Improvement in tail-pieces for violins



J. E. WEAVER. Tail-Piece for Violins.

No. 214,600. Patented April 22, 1879.

MfinEssEs I J MFETERS, FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTONv D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES E. IVEAVEB, OF PITTSB'URG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN TAIL-PIECES FOR VIOLINS.

Specification forming part ot'Lcttcrs Patent No. 214,600, dated April 529, i879 application liled August 7, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, James E. WEAVER, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tail- Picces for Violins; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the referenceletters marked thereon.

My invention relates to an improvement in violins; and consists in providing the tailpiece for the strings with a drum and pawl, said drum for winding the E-string upon it, and the pawl for holding the drum in a fixed position.

To enable others skilled in the art with which my invention is most nearly connected to make and use it, I will. proceed to describe its construction and operation.

in the accompanying drawings, which form part oi my specification, Figure 1 is a top view of the tail-piece for a violin furnished with my improvement. Fig. 2 is an inverted view of the same. l ig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the same at line 7 y of Fig. 2.

The l lstring of violins is furnished to violi nplayers in such length as that each string will be sul'licient to make a number of strings for the violin. This is done to compensate for the frequency o'l' breaking of the Estring, which is well known to all violin-players. The frequent breaking of the E-string is attended with cost and loss to the player, and is also a source of much annoyance.

Violin-players as a rule wrap the surplus length of the E-string around the tail-piece, which causes the said string to have sharp angles in it, and the string is very liable to break at these angles when subjected to the necessary strain and tension required to make it accord with the other strings of the violin.

The object of my improvement has for its purpose the protection of the surplus of the E-string and the providing of a convenient means for furnishing with facility the necessary amount of said string in case of breakage.

To accomplish the desirable results stated, the tail-piece A is provided with a drum, B, the axis of which is pivoted in said tail-piece and in the springpawl O, as indicated at h. The springpawl is attached to the under side of the tail-piece A by screws 9 g, and is furnished with a pin, fitted to openings 0 in the lower end of the drum B. The drum B is provided with a finger-disk, 7:, for rotating it at the will of the player. The front end of the s1 ring-pawl G is furnished with flllgGPPlGOG I, for pressing down the pawl, and thereby removing the pinf'out of the openings 0, thereby allowing the drum B to be rotated for either winding the string upon it or t'orunwinding the string off it. The tail-piece is strengthened at its rear end by a plate, or, and a rivet, a.

I do not confine my invention to a single drum and pawl, or to the exact arrangement of them as described.

I do not claim, broadly, a tail-piece 'l'or violins furnished with a drum or winch For the E- string.

Having thus described my improvemtmt, what I claim as of my invention is- In a tail-piece for violins, the lower end of the axis h of the drum B, pivoted in the springpawl 0, having a pin, f, which enters openings 0 in the lower end of said drum, and a finger piece, I, for unshippin g the said pawl, substantially as herein described, and for the purpose set forth.

JAB. E. IVEAVER.

Witnesses JAMEs J. JOHNSTON, t. H. WHITTLESEY. 

